Machine for making ditches



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H. J. BENTSON MACHINE FORMAKING BITCHES vI5 Sheets-Sham. 2

Filed Sept. l5, 1919 sept. u, w23. y www H. J. BENTsoN MACHINE FonMAKING D'ITCHES Filed sept. 15 1919 s sheets-shew s 5] 3j m w PatentedSept. lli, 19235..

Uhlll STTES atenas enterar uiuco HANS J. BENTSON, OF KENOSHA,"WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNIENTS, TO F. C. .AUSTIN MACHINERYCOMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS.

.'LVIACHINE FOR MAKING DTCHES.

Application led September 15, `1919. Serial No. 323,837.

To all w hom t may conce/m Be it known that I, HANS J. BnN'rsoN, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Kenosha,Wisconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inMachines for Making Ditches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to excavating machines of that kind in which theexcavating apparatus is adapted to cut a ditch having slopingr sides.

Gene-rally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novellandimproved excavating machine of this general character, having a rotarywheel for cutting the ditch, and having an endless chain of buckets fortaking up the loose dirt from the bottom of the ditch, as well as fordriving the rotary wheel, whereby the amount of cutting donc by thebuckets is reduced to a minimum, each bucket merely cutting straightahead and downward on the breast or front end of the ditch, as themachine travels slowly forward on the surface of the ground immediatelyin advance or ahead of the ditch.

It is also an object to provide certain details and Jfeatures ofconstruction and coinbinations tending to increase the generalelficiency and the desirability of an excavating machine of thisparticular character.

To these and other useful ends the invention consists in mattershereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an excavator embodyingthe principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the rear end portion of saidexcavator.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3 3 in Figure Q, showing theconstruction of the rotary digging or cutting wheel.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a modified construction of said wheel.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a body' frame 1 mounted onfront steering wheels 2 and rear traction devices 3, the latte-r beingpreferably in the form of caterpillars of any suitable known or approvedcharacter. Said caterpillars are driven by the engine l which is mountedon the front portion of the body frame, through the medium of anysuitable power-transmitting connection. The rear portion of the bodyframe is provided with an upwardly projecting frame 5 upon which vismounted a transverse shaft 6, and a rearwardly and downwardly extendingdigging beam 7, mounted on said shaft, so that the lower end of saidbeam will swing up and down. A. cutting wheel is mounted on the lowerend of said beam, said wheel comprising a tube 8 mounted on a shaft 9,the latter being mount-ed in bearings 10 on the beam, it beingunderstood that said shaft may either rotate or be held stationary sothat the tube rotates thereon. The periphery of the wheel is formed byrings 11, preferably of angle iron, and hub rings 12 are connected tosaid peripheral rings by radial spokes 13, said hub rings being rigidlyspaced apart and held in fixed relation by bolts 14 suitably appliedthereto. The end hubs 15 are rigidly secured to the tube and areconnected together by tie rods 16 having turn-buckles 17 these rodssuitably engaging the hub rings 12, and being brought nearer together attheir outer ends. Annularly arranged knives 18 have their ends bolted tothe hubs 15, and are also bolted to structural members 19 and 20suitably secured to the structure of the skeletonlike frame whichconstitutes the wheel. Braces 21 and 22 are also provided to stiifenthis skeleton-like frame, so that when rotated the wheel will be strongenough to withstand the strains incident to its operation in the ground.The knives 18, it will be seen, are disposed at angles to oive the ditchsloping sides, and are preferably long enough to reach to the bottom ofthe ditch. An endless belt 23 is carried by the rings 11 and is providedwith buckets 24: that pass around the wheel between the knives orcutters 18, and this belt is also supported by sprockets on the shaft 6,whereby the rotation of the latter will drive the belt and thereby drivethe rotary wheel. This shaft 6 is connected through any suitablepowertransmitting mechanism with the previously mentioned engine orother source of power. The buckets are not required to do any cutting attheir sides, as this is all done by the knives 18, so that the amount ofcutting done by the buckets is practically reduce-d to a minimum, eachbucket only cutting directly forward against the sloping breast 25 atthe forward end of the ditch, whereby each bucket is mainly for thepurpose lof merely carrying upward the loose dirt which falls to thebottom of the ditch. Auxiliary cutters 26 may be secured to the rings 11to assist in cutting the bottom of the ditch, if this is necessary ordesirable. As shown, the knives 18 have their ends bent inwardly at 27,so as to cut against the bottom and breast of thediteh, at oppositesides of the buckets. A transverse conveyer 28 is provided, in the usualmanner, for the purpose of receiving the discharge from the buckets 24,the latter traveling upwardly and discharging their loads as they travelaround the sprockets on the shaft 6, so that the excavated dirt is thendischarged by the conveyer 28 at one side of the machine..

The beam y7 is adapted to be raised and lowered, and for this purposeany suitable, known or approved arrangement can be employed, such as thescrew 29 which is operated at its lower end by suitable connection withsaid engine, and which extends through a threaded nut or sleeve 30, thelatter being swiveled on the beam 7 in any suitable manner, wherebyrotation4 of said screw will raise and lower the ,digging beam.

AS shown in Fig. 4t, the tube 8 is provided with extra hubs 31, and withthis arrangement shorter knives 32 can be applied to the wheel, asshown, or to one side, so that either one ,or both sides of the ditchwill be inclined at an angle more nearly perpendicular.` The knives 82employedat either one side or both sides as substitutes for thepreviously mentioned knives 18 can extend tov the bottom of the ditch,if desired, and be shaped at their ends like the knives 18, or they maybe shorter and not extend to the bottom of the ditch (see the knives inFig. 4f), depending upon circumstances and the requirements of actualpractice. But the full equipment includes knives 18 which can be securedto the hub 15 as previously explained to cut a wide ditch when such isdesired.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the construction is such, asshown in either F ig. 3 or Fig. 4i, that the rotary wheel cuts theditch, forming the latter with inclined sides, while the buckets haveless work to do than in other constructions in which they do all of thecutting, as in some trenching machines,and with the arrangement shownand described serve principally to carry upward the loose dirt whichfalls to the bottomof the ditch.

lVhat I claim as my invention is z- 1. In an excavator for making aditch, a body" frame mounted to travel 'on the surface of the groundahead of the ditch, a beam rextending downward and rearward and mountedto-swing up and down at the rear of said body frame, a wheel mountved torotate at the lower end of said beam and provided with instrumentalitiesfor cutting'the sides and also the transverse bottom of a ditch havingsloping sides, an endless belt arranged for driving said wheel, a

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series of buckets on said belt and operating within the depth of saidcutting instrumentalities to take up the loose dirt from the bottom ofthe ditch, traction means for propeiling the body frame forward, andpower rnsmitting connections for driving said 2. A struct-ure asspecified in claim 1, said instrumentalities comprising cutters whichextend straight from the hubs of the wheel to the bottom of the ditchand operate on the sides of the ditch a distance away from each side ofsaid series of buckets.

3. A structure as specified in claim l, said wheel comprising a rotarytube with hubs thereon, a shaft in said tube, rings to support saidbelt, and means to connect lthe hubs with said rings to form a stiffskeleton frame, with said instrumentalities disposed at angles on thesides of said frame to form the sloping sides of the ditch.

t. A structure as specified in claim l, said instrumentalities reachingto the bottom of the ditch, and extending inward toward the bucket onthe bottom of the ditch, so that said buckets only cut directly forwardand f upward on the breast of the ditch.-

5. A structure as specified in claim l, said wheel comprising outerrings, and a central rotary member having main and supplementary sets ofhubs mounted thereon and adapted to be respectively connected with Saidouter rings by cutting instrumentalitie's to vai-y the angle of the lineof cut.

6. The improved excavator, as set forth in claim 1, in combination Awithmeans to raise and lower said beam, substantially as shown anddescribed.

7. 1n an excavator for making a ditch, the combination of traction meansto move the excavator forward, a wheel, means to support the wheel forup-and-down movenient, cutting means on the sides of the wheel to form aditch with inclined Sides, horizontally disposed cutting means on thewheel to form the bottom of the ditch, so that the wheel itself cutsboth the sides and the bottom of the flaring ditch, a belt to drive thewheel, and buckets on said belt to scoop up the loose dirt cut away fromthe sides and bottom and breast of the ditch by said cutting means asthe excavator moves slowly forward.l

8. A structure as specified in claim 7, said cutting means comprisingknives extending downwardly at an angle to the bottom of the ditch andthen horizontally toward said buckets.

9. A structure as specified in claim 7, said wheel vhaving auxiliarycutters forming a part of said horizontally disposed cutting means andserving to assist the knives in forming the bottom of the ditch.

10. A structure as specified in claim 7, said cutting means comprisingknives, said Wheel having an axial tube formed with hubs secured to saidknives, a cylindric supporting member extending through said tube, andmeans to support the Wheel on the tube, and rods and turn-buckles toconnect said hubs together and hold them against outward displacement onsaid tube.

11. In an excavator for making ditches, the combination of a rotaryWheel, knives extending from the center of the Wheel to 10 points on acircle some distance from the periphery of the wheel, a belt forrotating said Wheel, buckets on said belt to travel around the peripheryof thev Wheel and scoop up the loose dirt from the ditch, and -15auxiliary cutters on said Wheel, said buckets and cutters also extendingto said circle.

HANS J. BEN'DSON.

